First Buck - Mixed Experience

[WORM82]

Congrats that's a heck of a first buck! Anytime you have the chance for a second shot take it.

 

[losthunter]

You should be ashamed and never hunt again!! Go ahead and give me your spot to hunt. Just kidding, I can only hope to see a buck like that, cant even imagine trying to shoot one. Don't worry about it, it happens a lot more than you think. I would of shot that deer 6 times to make sure I got it.

 

[GRIT]

Great buck
Your gonna have to get control over yourself when you see a buck once you make up your mind your gonna kill a buck just think you got to put the crosshairs on the spot where you won't the bullet to hit him.Just deer in the scope will cost you a lot of deer. If you don't your gonna have more long tracking and misses.It's rough to sit out in the cold to hunt and then miss him [that's the way i think]
I have done the same thing

 

[Mudbone]

Congrats on a great deer and and even better screen name. Lol

Come on over to the sports forum I need your help. Hahaa!!

 

[JeepKuntry]

Bad shots happen. Eventually you will lose a deer. That's one of the worst feelings. Over time, you will become a little more selective with your shots. The most important thing in hunting is to know your skillset. Don't try to do something that you are not comfortable with. Sounds like it was close shot, just nerves. It happens. When I first started hunting, I got nervous just seeing deer. The past 4 or 5 I've kept my composure until after the shot. Over time you will relax more as well.

 

[Pic IN the Casa]

Bad shots happen brother, we've all been there and will be again. The feeling you have of bad shot remorse just shows how much you appreciate the animal you hunt, hold your head high and try to do better next time is all you can do! Oh and awesome buck man!!! arty:

What he said!

 

[JKC]

Congrats!

 

[Triple_H]

We've all been there.
Enjoy the fact that you found him and celebrate your first Buck. That's a great deer

 

[AT Hiker]

Bad shots happen brother, we've all been there and will be again. The feeling you have of bad shot remorse just shows how much you appreciate the animal you hunt, hold your head high and try to do better next time is all you can do! Oh and awesome buck man!!! arty:

Ditto to the above!

Perfect explanation.


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[7mminatree]

Great buck. Everyone will muff a shot if they hunt long enough. You learned from it. Mother nature can be far more cruel to animals than a hunters bullet.

 

[Bobby D]

Congratulations on a nice buck, you should be proud of yourself. We have all been there, and for those who haven't just keep hunting. What you should take from this, and what you should be most proud of, is sticking with the deer. Alot of people would have chalked it up as a lost deer, you didn't. Instead you HUNTED him down and finished what you started. It is easy to give up when it isn't going your way. It is also harder to do the right thing and stay with the pursuit. You did a good job!!

 

[fairchaser]

What your feeling is perfectly normal and is shared by every hunter on this forum. Learn from your mistakes and get better. You owe the deer that much. Hunting and becoming an effective killer takes time and experience. We all start somewhere and you will continue to make mistakes. Hunting can be very humbling because we fail much more than we succeed. It's the only way. If you didn't get excited you wouldn't hunt. You are taking something's life forever. It's an emotional experience. It should be!

Congrats on a fine buck. You have two tags btw.

 

[Snake]

Congrats on a very nice buck and don't beat yourself up over taking a questionable shot , we've most all have been there . Learn from it and move on , once again congrats !

 

[huntncoach]

Not much for me to offer about Buck Fever. I have hunted for about 10 years and still get it depending on the situation. Someone said you can learn to control it and I agree. To me, it's all about experiences and each can be very unique. Regardless, that is a very nice buck - better than any I have taken - so kudos to you! Keep hunting!

 

[godores]

.270 - and I had a very clear line of sight and a good shot on the deer. I don't feel irresponsible at all for taking the shot, I would be very comfortable with the shot in all other circumstances, even on a doe. That is what was so surprising for me, even though my crosshair was bouncing more than normal, I thought I had put a good shot on target.

 

[Mike Belt]

Me personally, calm as a cucumber with a deer approaching and previewing the shot. After the shot is when I fall apart. I think by holding it all in while everything is unfolding compounds what happens when I finally get to release my emotions.

 

[Hunter 257W]

Sometimes I go all to pieces when i see a deer. It doesn't necessarily have to be a buck either. It's easy for those who don't have that problem to say "just control it" until after the shot but if it was that easy nobody would have trouble with buck fever. About all you can do is practice shooting to make the shooting part easier and give you confidence in your ability to hit and hunt more hoping that the more deer you are exposed to, the less excitable you'll get. I know that has been true for me. I don't get torn up nearly as often as i used to. Last year though i had two 9 point bucks come up on me suddenly and i was all messed up. Heart pounding and couldn't have held my shots in 30 moa.

Regarding reluctance to shoot again if a deer don't go down at the 1st shot, I think that's the macho factor at work. I pay no attention to that nonsense as the guys laughingh about me taking more than one shot won't be the ones to lose a deer if I let a wounded deer run off because I don't want to shoot again. I go after them like I'm in a war shooting for my life until they stay down. I've shot deer 3 times on more than one occasion. One of those was with a 460 Weatherby Mag. Failing to do so could mean losing one.

 

[Cazador]

What other type of hunting have you done? Are you right eye dominant and right handed? I ask these questions because of my past. I did a lot of rabbit hunting. I am left eye dominant and right handed. When rabbit hunting with shotgun. I shot with both eyes open. Shooting archery tourneys I really had to pay attention to closing my left eye. It would cause my shots to be high and left. With high power rifle I had the same thing. But now I put a piece of scotch tape over the left lens of my shooting glasses. Early on in bow hunting. I had made a couple shots that hit high left. I realized during the rush of buck fever that I did not close my left eye. Knowing this has helped calm me during hunting. I now have that mental list that I go through before shooting. I first look at the deer and decide whether it is one I am going to take. Then I range what yardage the deer is and which pin I am going to use. I then decide how high or low to hold that pin for the yardage. I have that mental picture of the deer with my pin on it before I even draw my bow. I take a good calming breathe and draw. Everything lines up and the arrow is released. Then I get the shakes and excitement. But that mental routine seems to keep the buck fever at bay.
Try doing something like that. Pick something that works for you. I also learned a long time ago. once you decide it is an animal you are going to take. Don't look at the horns. You WILL hit where you are looking almost every time. Keep you eye on the spot you want to hit. There will be plenty of time to look at the horns.
I hope this helps. Awesome deer you got. Good on you for the effort you put in.
BTW. There are plenty of videos out there with seasoned hunters that have shot the horns off of deer. Because they were looking at the horns through the scope and not where they should be.

 

[Bone Collector]

You are not a bad hunter because you made a bad shot. That will happen if you hunt. You are human not a machine. You may think you have a steady rest and the gun may slip right before you shoot, or you may jerk the trigger and wound one. You stuck with him and finished what you started.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you ever take up archery hunting or it may happen with a firearm, but if you hunt long enough you will lose one and that is a bad feeling, but you have to get past it and do better next time.

Congrats on a great buck.